Kings: "Judgment Day" Review

"I am justice. Impartial, not blind."

As treacherous as Prince Jack (Sebastian Stan) can come across, there's always a strong underlying current of sadness that permeates his actions and reflects in his eyes. It goes a long way in making his character, while not completely sympathetic, understandable. The question remains, how do you instill a work ethic into a royal? Into someone who's born into a world of privilege and, most often, non-consequence? Jack's new "behind the scenes" position in the Ministry of Information seemed like it was about to quell the disquiet in his soul and make him feel useful to his father, King Silas (Ian McShane), but just one episode removed from their "reconciliation" and Jack is already maneuvering schemes around to plot David against both his sister, Michelle (Allison Miller), and the king.

"Judgement Day" winds up redeeming itself with a few powerful scenes, but the story still remains a bit skimpy since it has to deal with David's own feelings of guilt toward his own stubborn and horse-blinded farm family. As it stands, and as we all witnessed, David's brother Ethan is quite guilty of treason, and yet somehow and their mother are a "wreck" when Ethan gets sentenced to death. As if it's not to be expected. As if you can lead a revolt against the King and then somehow get absolved right quick. It's almost as if Ethan expects clemency because of David's position, even though he's outwardly rejected David's help at every turn.

Katrina (Leslie Bibb) pauses upon hearing Prince Jack's plans.

Ethan has pride and a sort of "peasant nobility," and the way he stands by his convictions is admirable, but he's dim and unreasonable and a bummer to watch. Again, he's holding David back. The final scene, in which Silas, out of no other reason other than mercy, speaks to David in private and pardons Ethan was totally unexpected and very moving. It was also great to see Silas reaction when David hugs him. Up until this point, "Judgement Day" seemed to be leading us along the lines of "touch decisions" and "denying one's heart." David has a chance to save Ethan's life, at Jack's behest, by going on TV and denouncing Silas publicly. But he chooses to sacrifice his own brother, who would only be getting the proper punishment as determined by law, to die in order to uphold his own beliefs in justice.

The episode's title refers to the Gilboan tradition of "Jugment Day" - a day when 10 appealate cases are brought before Silas himself, who will alone come to a judicious decision. It's a day that the public loves, but als one that seems to make Silas feel more isolated than usual. In true "heavy is the head" fashion, Silas actually retreats to have a decadent meal with the imprisoned former king, Abaddon (Brian Cox), just so that he might take a break from his diet and talk to someone else that once had..."relatable" problems. Jack's plan in this episode seemed a bit thin - pitting Michelle's Socialized Medicine case against David's brother's trial for the 10th Judgment Day spot. It was going to crumble, or at least come undone enough to reveal himself as the tinkerer - but at least he was able to come clean and tell Michelle about his fears of being replaced by David if David were to ever marry Michelle. It was good that he just came out with that. There's also some good work on this episode from the aggressively attractive Leslie Bibb, who plays the face of the Ministry of Info, Katrina.

Macaulay Culkin arrives on the scene as the formerly exiled King's nephew, Andrew. He doesn't have much to do in this one, but we do get a hint of why he might have been exiled as his father William (Dylan Baker) discovers the Queen's shoe in one of his bags, signaling that he might be a crossdresser. The best scene of the episode, however, is when Silas presides over a case of a doctor who is being held accountable for a "hit and run" fatality from a decade earlier. The doctor is the man who helped save Silas' son Seth's life in the episode "First Night," and Silas' former mistress Helen is even in court to speak on the doctor's behalf. It seemss though Helen and the doctor might have felt that getting this case before Silas during Judgment Day would have been the best chance of getting the doctor pardoned. Unfortunately, as secretly grateful as Silas is, he must uphold the law and since pardoning him might only draw further attention to Helen and his son, Silas sentences the doctor to life.